Shoulder Surgery

[katie]

So I manged to tear my labrum clear though in my pulling shoulder.  I am looking at surgery with 6 months of recovery.  That takes out my 2014 season for sure.  Any of you guys or gals had the labrum surgery?  How long before you were back up to hunting weight?

[nashoba]

Katie I had shoulder the second of two shoulder surgeries on December 16 2013. My surgery was for a bicep tendon tear, cartilage damage and arthritis. My best advice is to find the best surgeon and follow his and the physical therapists
directions. The reason I had to have two surgeries is that the first surgeon didn't correct all of my shoulder issues and that's when I found a new doctor who is the Director of orthoscopic surgery at our local hospital. I am now back to shooting 55-60 lbs bows I just don't shoot the quantity that I used to but the doctor said my strength should continue to increase over the next year. Good luck with every thing I know how depressing it can be I had to sit out the 2013 season.

[sou-pawbowhunter]

Katie,
I had a labrum tear, plus about 5 or 6 other things fixed while the surgeon was in there.  The best advice I can give you is to seek out the best SHOULDER surgeon you can find, someone who works with athletes is a plus. Have a very frank discussion with said surgeon about your expectations regarding your post recovery abilities. Sadly, I know of some docs who simply assume you will "dial it back" and they do what they believe will hold up in that scenario. I have friends and family members who have encountered this, and their recoveries did not go nearly as well as mine.
  By all means, once you have settled on a top notch surgeon, follow their post-op plan. But 6 months seems to be on the long side for post-op recovery. I was 48 when I had my surgery, and I was released back to work with no restrictions after 3 months. I work as a lineman, so it isn't like I was going back to "easy".
  Good luck, and feel free to pm me if you have any questions.
Don

[Jack Denbow]

Katie I saw my orthopedic doc today and got similar news. I have
1. Large complete tear of the right supraspinatus tendon with 4.5 cm medial retraction.
2. Complete tear of the long biceps tendon.
3.High-grade partial tear and elongation of the subscapularis tendon. There is moderate diffuse infraspinatus tendinosis.
4. Mild degenerative arthritis in the right AC joint, moderate subacromial spur formation, and subdeltoid bursitis.
5. Moderate glenohumeral joint effusion without gross chondromalacia or labral tear.
He told me my season this year is toast. He said it would be a minimum of 4 months and probably be 6 months. You can bet I will behave myself and follow all the instructions of the doc and physical therapist. I will be 71 when I have my surgery which may or may not account for my recovery time.
Jack

[pdk25]

Jack, that is quite abit worse than a labral tear alone.

[Jack Denbow]

Yes Patrick. I need to learn that the mind is still young but the body is old and worn out. When I screw something up I can usually do a good job of it.
   
Jack

[Tony Sanders]

Wow Jack, man I an sorry to hear about your ordeal with your shoulder and so forth. But like they say, you can't keep a good man down. I hope and pray that all goes well with your surgery and recovery. Take care and I hope see you around.

  Tony

[2Knives]

I've had shoulder surgery, then I had elbow surgery and then I had another elbow surgery...I've been out of bowhunting for the past 4yrs at least.
I had made a promise to get stronger this year and at least start shooting again!!!
I'm not sure if I'll be able to hunt, but I gotta shoot at least.
Take your time getting back. When you feel stronger don't think that its a good idea to pull out your hunting bow for a couple of shots...I'm just saying.
Good luck.

[Will Cocke 2]

I had shoulder surgery to repair a 70 percent full thickness rotator cuff tear with full retraction  (supraspinatus) , a bicep tendon ( slap tear) and arthritis removed from collar bone 10 weeks ago.  I have a very good surgeon and have been pain free since the surgery.  I have been following Dr and Pt orders. I will be shooting again in the next 4-6 weeks according to Dr.  All of that was waiting until week 6 to start pt because of the severity of the tear.

[katie]

Thanks all!  Sounds like I will be in for next season.  Now to try and decide when to get this done.  I teach paddling for work all summer and also need to get the garden put up before they cut.  I am doing hardcore PT right now to try and not tear our the bicep tendons while I wait.  Oh fun!  But hey, it is fixable!!

[katie]

I better order a new bow at a lighter weight for my recovery  

[Mojostick]

Make sure you take a selfie after surgery, it makes it all a bit humorous.

Also keep in mind that it may take a year before you're drawing "hunting weights."

Then you may want to reconsider what are "hunting weight" bows. Even 18 months out, I'm still liking the 40lbs range, when I used to shoot mid 50's. You can ethically and quickly kill deer with 35lbs, when keeping ranges short.

Here's my pic-ENJOY!

     

I looked more like this!      

   

[katie]

Mojostick- I workout to be able to pull 40# as it is  

[halfseminole]

I had irreparable damage that sidelined me for years while stuff regrew and I got stronger.  I'm now up around 50# but the shoulder never fully recovered.  Follow your doctor's orders to the letter and you should be fine.

[olddogrib]

My last of 3 shoulder arthroscopies (2 right, 1 left) revealed a torn labrum when they got in there. Surgeon told me to be glad I wasn't a horse or they'd just shoot me. Rehabbing that will take a bit longer, but I was back to pretty much full strength in way under 6 mos.  You don't want to push that though. That was the advice from a doctor whose idea of rehab was using it as soon as he got done for the first two procedures...less scar tissue to contend with! I do recommend the nerve block in the neck as opposed to general anaesthesia so you're awake the whole time and can critique the procedure...they really do appreciate the amusement you'll provide while your doped up, lol!  You'll like the oxycodone, too.  Bad thing is they'll only give you about 3 days worth, but you'll know immediately why it's nicknamed hillbilly heroin.  I had it done on Friday and went back to work on Monday... of course my sympathetic  coworkers claimed I was present but didn't know where, lol!

[Kent57]

I had shoulder surgery to repair a 80 percent full thickness rotator cuff tear with full retraction , I have never got it all back. I had to drop about 5 LBS off my shooting weight, But I still can shoot and hunt

[Mojostick]

Katie,
You can kill all the deer you can want with 30-35lbs, with no problem. I recently traded Big Jim for a new version of the 1959 Bear Kodiak that was a "special order" 30lb bow, and with a FF string, that little bow smokes an arrow. I've killed deer with real vintage Bear bows at 30lbs with B50 strings. Trust me, if you picked up a "new" '59 Kodiak at 30lbs or any other nice FF bow, if you keep shots at 15 yards and under, you can kill moose, elk and black bear with a FF 30lb recurve with a hair shaving 2 blade. (Where legal-and those old weight laws are so outdated, IMHO) I think Big Jim still have one 30lb '59 in stock. If so, that's your bow. They're fantastic.

[olddogrib]

Mojo,
I know those contraptions well...always thought it made me look like some sort of alien bagpipe player minus the celestial tartan kilt!

Had my shoulder replaced in May, on the mend but no bow for 16 weeks. More to the point, I have a friend who had the labrum repair and still has pain-- BECAUSE HE DIDN'T DO THE REHAB AS RECOMMENDED!!! It's crucial that you do what they tell you!

[tracker12]

Originally posted by nashoba:
Katie I had shoulder the second of two shoulder surgeries on December 16 2013. My surgery was for a bicep tendon tear, cartilage damage and arthritis. My best advice is to find the best surgeon and follow his and the physical therapists
directions. The reason I had to have two surgeries is that the first surgeon didn't correct all of my shoulder issues and that's when I found a new doctor who is the Director of orthoscopic surgery at our local hospital. I am now back to shooting 55-60 lbs bows I just don't shoot the quantity that I used to but the doctor said my strength should continue to increase over the next year. Good luck with every thing I know how depressing it can be I had to sit out the 2013 season.

Perfect advice here. I had a similar experience with a bad surgery.  los I tried coming back to full speed to soon.